From the gentlest ranges of The Shire to the highest point of Mount Doom, Peter Jackson’s epic three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings books is the kind of one-in-a-million success that you couldn’t dare to imagine. Nearly 20 years after the inaugural film in the series, The Fellowship of The Ring, was released to theaters, Rhino Records is bringing back a crucial archival portion of LoTR lore on April 6: a generously expanded edition of Howard Shore’s acclaimed, Oscar-winning soundtrack, out of print for more than a decade.

The film series’ director, Peter Jackson, selected Shore off the strength of some of the composer’s previous scores that he was using as temp tracks. In the great tradition of John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith (or, going back even further, Richard Wagner), Shore’s work was bombastic and operatic, telling the story of Bilbo Baggins, Aragorn, Gandalf The Grey, Legolas and countless other memorable characters through a stunning amount distinct leitmotifs and musical ideas, utilizing nontraditional instrumentation (thanks to the efforts of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the London Voices and London Oratory School Schola choirs) and even lyrics derived from the book’s invented language, Elvish. Add a pinch of song material (notably Enya’s Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated original “May It Be”) and you’ve got a soundtrack for the ages.

The four-disc The Fellowship of The Ring box set released in 2005 featured a greatly expanded, composer-supervised (not technically complete but certainly definitive) presentation to match the extended edition of the film, with three CDs of music also available in high-resolution stereo and surround sound on one DVD. Now, that box is coming back to print in two new packages: a repress of the original set, with a Blu-ray Disc replacing the DVD, and – for the first time ever, a 5LP box set, pressed on red vinyl and limited to 5000 copies. Packaging sticks close to the original release, featuring deluxe packaging (including a “leather-style” book-like spine) as well as the superior liner notes by LoTR music authority Doug Adams. Rhino also committed in their announcement to the eventual reissue of the expanded sets of 2002’s The Two Towers and 2003’s Return of The King, both also long out-of-print.

The adventure continues April 6 – hit the jump for a full track list as well as Amazon links!

The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring – The Complete Recordings (previously released as Reprise 45494-2, 2005, reissued 2018 – original film and soundtrack released as Reprise 48110, 2001)

Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his intended profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small, from vintage soul to stirring film scores. His passion for reissues turned into a profession in 2014 with co-producing credits on two best-selling vinyl singles for Sony's Legacy Recordings: a 30th anniversary "ecto-green" pressing of Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" and a celebratory pressing of Wham!'s "Last Christmas" on red and green vinyl.
Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of box sets and vinyl.

The Second Disc is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk.